Vegetable-cutter.



No. 694,592. Pate nted Mar. 4, I902.

- c. WATZ.

VEGETABLE CUTTER.

v [Appiication filed Apr. 5. BI BL) 2 Sheets-Sheet -l.

y WITNESSES: INVENTOP W W MJM,

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 4, I902. Q. WATZ. 4 .VEGETABLE CUTTER.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1901 2 Sheets$heut 2.

(No Model.)

//v VENTOH A 7TOHNE rs m: NORRIS PETERS co, PHOTO-LITNO WASHINGTON.0.1:v

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES WATZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

VEGETABLE-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,592, dated March 4,1902.

Application filedApril 5, 1901. Serial No. 54,443. (No model.) v

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES XVATZ, a citizen'oftheUnitedStates,residinginNewYork,bor ough of Bronx, in the State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVegetable-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved vegetable-cutter of that class inwhich a knife-disk provided with a number of radial knives is rotated infront of a suitable feed device in such manner that slices of varyingthickness can be cut off, the cutter being also adapted for cuttingother articles, as noodles and the like, in a quick and convenientmanner; and the invention consists in the combination, in avegetable-cutter, of a cutter-disk provided with radial openings, centerdisks provided with hemispherical and radial semicylindricaldepressions, said center disks being placed on opposite sides of thecutter-disk, a shaft passing through said disks, means for clamping thedisks together thereon, cutting-knives provided with spherical terminalsand short cylindrical shanks at their inner ends engaging saiddepressions, and means for supporting the outer ends of the knives onthe cutterdisk; and the invention consists,further,in the combination,with, a vegetable-cutter of the construction stated, of means foradjusting said knives to any desired angle relatively to thecutter-disk, as will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved vegetable-cutter. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 isa front view of the cutter. Fig. 4 is a detail vertical transversesection through the upper part of the standard and feed-table thereon.tion through the cutter-disk; and Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are details showingthe adjustment of the knives in said disk, so as to set them for cuttingslices of the desired thickness.

Similar letters ofreference indicate corresponding parts.

supporting standard, which is preferably curved at its upper part andprovided at its lower part with a clamping-screw a, so as to be attachedto a table T or other suitable point Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sec-' of support. The upper end of the standard Ais provided with an eye for inserting the shaft d of the knife-disk Dand with a concaved extension-arm A, that serves for supporting afeed-table B, preferably made of wood and attached to the extension A bymeans of a clamping-screw a',as shown clearly in Fig. 4:. The feed-tableB is of sufficient length to receive vegetables of ordinary size such ascucu mbers,beets,black radishes,&c. and permit the slicing of the sameby feeding them forward by hand towards the cuttingdisk D.

The extension A is provided at its outer 'end'with eyes in which issupported a pintle a on which is pivoted a feed-block O, preferably madeof wood and which is capable of being swung readily over the pintle intoopen position, as shown in Fig. 1, or in position so that'the lowerconvex part of the same fits into the concaved feed-table B. At its rearpart the feed-block is provided with a suitable handle c,'by which itcan be taken hold of. This block is used only when the vegetables orother articles to be cut become so small that they can no longer behandled by the hand without danger to the fingers, in which case thefeed-block is swung over onto the feed-table and slid forward on thesameand upon its pintle, so that the article to be out is fed forwardwithout danger to the fingers.

The cutter-disk is preferably provided with four radial openings andfour radial and correspondingly-located 1 knives, as shown in The knivesD are set into the openings and adjusted at a suitable inclination tothe plane of the disk D, according'to the size of slices to be cut. Theshaft 61 of the disk is provided with a circumferential recess d, so asto be locked in position into the eye of the standard by a key I),engaging said annular recess 01, but prevented from turning freely onits axis in the eye. When it is desired to exchange the cutter-disk fora grating or other disk, the key b is withdrawn and the shaft of thegrater or other disk inserted and locked by replacing the key, so thatthe Referring to the drawings, A represents a cutter can then be usedfor grating or other purposes.

The cutte'r-diskD is supported by two diskshaped center plates b b whichare placed upon the shaft and which are provided with hemisphericaldepressions that register with the equidistant knife-openings in thedisk. The disks 6 b are held between a shoulder of the shaft 01 and awasher b placed on the face-disk between the same and the hub 7b of thehandle H, said hub being provided with an in teriorly-threaded socketthat is screwed over the front end of the shaft d, as shown clearly inFig. 5. When the parts are thus connected, the center disks serve tosupport the inner ends of the cutting-knives D which are provided withshort cylindrical shanks c and spherical terminals 0 said shanks andterminals being supported in the hemispherical and semicylindricaldepressions, as shown in Fig. 5. The outer end of each cutting-knife isturned over so as to form a web 6 and provided with two pins 6 the pin6' being located on the cranked portion or web 2, near the blade of theknife, while the pin 6 is located at the outer end of the web, as shownin Fig. 6. The cutter-disk is provided with a circumferential flange N,that extends over the cranked web 6 of the cutting-knives and isprovided with openings for the pins e',which are passed through andpivoted in the same. The back of each cutting-knife is bent over so asto form a flange d grooved, as shown in .Fig. 8, whereby the back of theknife engages and is reliably supported by the cutterdisk. The flangedoutter-diskD is surrounded by a metallic ring E, which is provided withopenings for engaging the end pin 6 of each cutting-knife, said ringbeing also further provided with slots 6 registering with screw-threadedopenings in the cranked Web of the cutting-knives for insertingclampingscrews f, that form connection between the web of the knives andthe cutter-disk and the adjusting-ring E. tVhen it is desired to adjustthe blades of the knives to greater or less inclination to the plane ofthe cutter-disk, the screws are loosened and the ring E shifted in oneor the opposite direction, so as to move the knives on their axes by theconnection of the ring E with the pin 6 until the blades of the knivesare set to the proper inclination. When this is accomplished, theclampingscrews are tightened, so that the knives are rigidly held inposition. In this manner all the knives can be simultaneously adjustedand firmly secured after adjustment, so as to be set ata greater orlessangle of inclination to the plane of the cutter-disk, and producethereby the cutting of thicker orthinner slices, as required.

The cutting-knives are preferably provided with a convex cutting edge,but with straight backs, the openings in the cutter-disk being ofcorresponding shape, but of size slightly larger than the knife, so asto permit the free egress of the slices through the openings into asuitable receptacle placed below the cutterdisk. The turning of theknives when being adjusted by the shifting of the outer ring is readilyaccomplished, it being permitted by the spherical bearings of the centerdisks,

which offer no resistance to the adjustment. The outer end of the shaft(1 is preferably made hexagonal, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to be tightlyapplied to the hub h by means of a suitable wrench or key.

When the vegetable-cutter is desired to be used for cutting largervegetables, noodles, and other articles, &c., an extension feed-table Bis used, which is hinged to the rear end of the main feed-table B andwhich carries at its outer end a wire stay or brace 9, that is hinged tothe under side of the same. The upper side of the table B is made of thesame concavity as the main feed-table. When this extension feed-table isrequired, it is swung up into line with the main feed-table andsupported on the brace g, which is bent over at the lower end, so as toform supporting-feet. When not required for use, the brace is folded upon the under side of the feed-table and the latter dropped into positionbelow the main feed-table. The extension feed-table forms a very usefulattachment to the vegetable-cutter, which is of great advantage infamilies and households in which noodles, macaroni, and similar articlesare consumed.

The advantages of my improved vegetablecutter are that the cutter-diskcan be readily removed from the supporting-standard and the individualknives conveniently removed for resharpening whenever required. Theknives and parts can then be readily assembled again by replacing theclamping-screws between the outer adjusting-ring and the webs of theknives and screwing up the center disks upon the inner ends of thecuttingknives by the screwhub of the handle. Another advantage is thefacility of cleaning the cutter-disk and the convenience in feedingarticles to be cut by means of the feedblock when the hand-feeding ofthe same cannot be done with safety. A further advantage is that thecutter-disk can be replaced by a grater or other disk, so as toaccomplish other operations besides slicing. Finally, the feed-blockextension has the advantage of permitting the cutting up of largearticles, as mentioned.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a vegetable-cutter, vided with radial openings,center disks provided with hemispherical and radial semicylindricaldepressions, said center disks being placed on opposite sides of thecutterdisk, a shaft passing through said disks, means for clamping thedisks together thereon, cutting-knives provided with spherical terminalsand short cylindrical shanks at their inner ends engaging saiddepressions, and means for supporting the outer ends of a cutter-diskprothe knives on the cutter-disks, substantially as set forth.

2. In a vegetable-cutter, a cutter-disk provided with radial openingsand a circumferen- IIO tial flange, center disks provided withhemispherical'and radial semicylindrical depressions, said center disksbeing placed on op-' posite sides of the cutter-disk, a shaft passingthrough said disks, means for clamping the disks togetherthereon,cutting-knives provided at their inner ends with spherical terminals andshort cylindrical shanks engaging said depressions, and at their outerends with pins pivoted in the circumferential flange of the cutter-disk,and means engaging said knives at their outer ends for adj usting thesame relatively to the cutter-disk, substantially as set forth.

3. In a vegetable-cutter, a cutter-disk provided with radial openingsand a circumferential flange, cutting-knives in said openings, havinggrooved backs engaging said disk,

CHARLES WATZ.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, JOSEPH H. NILES.

